Fifty Ways the World Begins
by Nix-the-Neko
Summary: A Fifty Theme Challenge that explains just what happened from the points of view of Neku, Rhyme, Joshua, Beat, and Shiki when they all arrived in Traverse Town. How did the man in the coat fool them? What lead up to them meeting Sora and Riku? What happened after Sora and Riku left? (No pairings in an attempt to be as close to canon as possible, only platonic)


**(A.N. Welcome to my newest project and, wow, is it going to be a long one. I'm going to fill out BlackClover7's fifty theme challenge. I'll be releasing fifteen themes per chapter. However, between writing them all, and taking days for them to be edited, you may have a long wait between chapters. However, this is something that I'm definitely going to finish. If you start to think that I've forgotten about this, don't worry, I haven't.**

**I actually gave myself a timelimit on this, after all. I have to finish this whole thing before December 31st. I'm going to have to work fast, I know.  
**

**Disclaimer:  
**

**Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney and Square Enix.  
The World Ends With You is owned by Square Enix and Juniper.)  
**

Blind

That's what it felt like, having neither dreams nor memories. It felt like she had gone blind.

Rhyme couldn't say for certain how long she had wandered the empty town before Sora had found her near the coliseum. It couldn't have been for as long as it had felt. Or maybe it had been longer than it had felt — Rhyme had never had a good grasp on time while having crisis' revolving around her very existence.

Then again, she couldn't really be certain as she didn't remember anything about herself except for her own name.

Rhyme hadn't even realized that her memories were gone until a few moments before she had reached the coliseum. She had been trying to figure out what she had been doing in this place. Drawing nothing but blanks, Rhyme attempted to retrace her steps, starting with what she had been doing before randomly waking up in an alleyway in the Second District.

Rhyme had stopped walking when she realized that she couldn't remember doing _anything _before walking up in that alleyway. It was like her life had started at that point, except Rhyme knew that it hadn't!

_'The sky is blue, leaves are green. I breathe oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide...'_ Rhyme remembered thinking frantically, trying to find a fact that would link back to her.

_'My name is Raimu, I go by Rhyme. I'm fourteen years old, my last name is... is...'_

_'Do I_ have _a last name?'_

Rhyme was shaking uncontrollably at this point, unable to shake off a strong feeling of déjà vu. Okay, if she couldn't remember where she came from, she'd just have to find out. A little sleuthing around might yield some answers.

Family

It was a rare occurrence when Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito couldn't think of anything to say. His replies didn't always make sense and he often misunderstood the situation. Not this time. Beat knew exactly what was going on.

"Hopefully, _this _Game won't have so many complications." Joshua drawled, sitting on a rooftop with one leg crossed primly over the other.

Beat finally found his voice.

"Wait, what'cha ya talkin' 'bout, Prissy!?" Beat demanded, his eyes hardening in anger. He and Phones had beaten the Reaper's Game already! Why would they have to go through it _again_?!

"Beat, I just told you. We're having another Reaper's Game." Joshua replied, "How many times do I need to explain this?"

"Why?! Why are we doin' this again?!" Beat shouted, "I thought we won!"

"Well, yes, you did win—"

"Then, why, Joshua?!" Beat interrupted him.

"Beat, all of you died again." Joshua said quietly, uncrossing his legs and jumping down from the roof.

"No, we ain't dead! I would'a remembered dyin'!" Beat snarled, walking quickly towards Joshua to grab him and shake him—make him take it back—and make him return them to life. Joshua just looked up at him. His dull eyes were as unreadable as ever.

"Beat, I thought that you would want to find your Game partner. Rhyme is probably looking for you." Joshua said, crossing his arms.

At that, Beat stopped. As much as he wanted to sock Joshua in the face for putting them all through this again, for doing all of this again, he needed to find Rhyme.

"She better be safe, Joshua." Was the only thing Beat said before he ran off to find his sister.

Light

A bright flash of light. That was the only thing that Neku saw before he had woken up on the ground (again) with no idea how he had gotten there (again).

Trying to ignore the prickling sensation of déjà vu, Neku stood up and surveyed his surroundings. There was a fountain built into the wall right in front of him, and to his left and right a few shops and a hotel were lined up side by side.

Of course, the complete lack of people milling around told Neku that he definitely wasn't in Shibuya anymore. In fact, the utter lack of _sound _had Neku feeling very uncomfortable. His headphones—they usually hung around his neck these days—were pushed back up over his ears.

Immediately, the sound of his usual tunes blocked out the _silence _of the place and Neku relaxed slightly. He couldn't let his guard down here, not when he didn't know where he was.

Suddenly, a familiar zapping sensation flew through his hand.

No.

Neku quickly jerked his hand to look at it and stared in horror.

No.

Not again.

He was greeted with glowing, bright red numbers that were slowly ticking down. At the same time, his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

Neku numbly pulled it out and flipped it open.

Darkness

Shiki screamed as she ran through the dark streets of Shibuya, following the crowd of fleeing pedestrians. She was part of the mob, helpless to escape its flow. Not that she even wanted to. The air was frenzied with fear and a symphony of screams accented city of Shibuya.

It had all happened so fast! One minute Shiki and Eri had been walking home together (they happened to live very close to each other) and chatting about the beautiful meteor shower that had come out of nowhere the prior day. It had been raining all day, and Eri wanted to get home before the storm got worse.

Then, as they had turned onto the street that they both lived on, it had gotten worse. Much worse.

A sudden crack of thunder sounded and the light drizzle had... stopped? Both of the girls had looked up into the sky to see the black clouds swirling angrily.

"Is that... a hurricane...?" Eri whispered, although both of them knew that there hadn't been any wind all day, just the still shower of rain.

Evidently, Shiki and Eri were not the only civilians looking up at the sky. Several others had also paused to stare at the maelstrom above their city.

A scream pierced the hushed silence of the civilians.

Suddenly, everyone was screaming—screaming and running—shoving and trying to get away from whatever was happening. It was mass hysteria, pandemonium.

"Shiki!" Eri had shouted as the panicking crowd jostled her in a different direction from Shiki.

Shiki screamed Eri's name back and reached out for her, only to recoil when something rushed between them. It flew by so fast in a rush of black that Shiki couldn't make out what it was.

After it passed, Shiki couldn't see Eri anymore. The screaming was only getting louder and the crowd was getting more frantic, and—finally—Shiki saw what everyone was running from, and wished she hadn't.

Shiki's first response was intense fear and confusion. _How had a Noise materialized in the RG?! That's impossible! _Then, Shiki realized that these weren't Noise when one of them dive bombed a woman, it's impossibly large maw snapping rabidly and knocked the girl down.

Then, a clear, pink glow had emanated from the fallen woman and rose upward, only to be devoured by another one of the creatures.

Eventually, the mob had diminished, through being picked off or people running down alleyways or into homes to escape the creatures. Shiki saw her apartment complex right ahead of her.

Almost there!

Shiki had just started to extend her hand to grasp the door knob when the door exploded, sending her spiraling back into the streets.

Dazed, Shiki looked up, seeing a large creature that reminded her of Higashizawa rubbing its stomach. She shook her head to clear it, almost certain that she could hear the sound of wings beating overhead and stumbled to her feet.

The creature charged her with a speed that was unreal, a speed that something that big shouldn't possess. Shiki dived out of the way clutching her stuffed cat to her chest and rolling as she hit the ground to cushion the impact.

Shiki turned to look for where the creature was, only to see it sliding towards her at a tremendous speed on its stomach. Her eyes went wide with horror and Shiki knew she couldn't get out of the way in time.

All around her, buildings were crumbling and a storm was raging above her. Right before the creature hit Shiki, her entire world flashed a blinding white.

Then she was gone.

Betrayal

Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The Music of Shibuya was off. It had been since yesterday. It was a small change but the alteration had happened so suddenly that Joshua noticed immediately.

At first, Joshua had dismissed it as a heightened sense of greed going through Shibuya again. That was nothing new. However, as the day had passed, Joshua couldn't quite escape the feeling that he was missing something.

Joshua had consulted Sanae Hanekoma about the issue while buying coffee from the WildKat. Sanae had nodded as he listened to Joshua describing the sound change to their city as he brewed Joshua's special blend (one that wasn't available to _just anyone_).

To Joshua's surprise, Sanae had looked around before flipping the OPEN sign around to the side that said CLOSED.

"All right, Joshua," Sanae had said as he sat down across from the young Composer. "This is some classified information. So no talking about it, all right?"

Joshua simply raised an eyebrow in an expression that clearly stated 'who am I going to tell?'

It was then that Sanae informed Joshua about Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, of the very universe itself! He learned about the Keyblade and the Keyblade War. About the three Keybladers who had gone missing ten years earlier and the new ones of today. Then, about the Heartless, the darkness within the heart given physical manifestation.

Joshua was especially fascinated with the Keyblade War. To think that their entire world had been created through such a colossal event! However, the part about the Heartless made Joshua pause... the way Sanae had described them as "creatures that greedily devoured all hearts in their path" sounded...

Joshua had sat up quickly and almost knocked his coffee mug over in the process.

"The Heartless are here, aren't they?" Joshua said.

The look from Sanae was all that he needed.

"Do the higher-ups know?" Joshua asked, already starting to come up with a plan to defend Shibuya.

"Yeah, they know. And they aren't going to do anything." Sanae replied tiredly, looking older than Joshua had ever seen him.

"What?" Joshua was honestly surprised at that. Sure, they hadn't done anything while he was running around and preparing to destroy the city... but to stand by and watch the entire _world_ end? Millions and trillions of lives? And these were supposed to be _Angels_!

Sanae apparently heard Joshua's internal indignation, for he had stood up and put a hand on Joshua's shoulder.

"Listen, Boss, I know it seems harsh but you gotta remember, we're observers. We don't interfere with Fate. If this world is destined to be destroyed..."

"I don't care." Joshua snapped, feeling betrayed, although he couldn't figure out why. "I'm not going to sit down and watch as my city... as my _world _ends." That would have been something that the old Joshua would have done. He would have been content to allow the hands of Fate to guide everything along it's merry little way.

Not this Joshua.

"What exactly are you planning, J?" Sanae asked, letting go of Joshua's shoulder and regarding the Composer curiously.

Joshua simply turned and walked over to the door to the WildKat's entrance. His steps were slow and methodical, as if he was also trying to figure out what he was going to do.

Then, he turned back to Sanae, eyes flashing with inspiration.

"You said that hearts can be regrown, over time?" Joshua asked, cocking his head slightly.

"They can." Sanae answered. "But I don't see where you're going with this, unless you're planning on moving everyone in Shibuya to another world."

"My dear Producer..." Joshua smirked. "I would never do something so risky."

Sanae gave Joshua a deadpan stare that clearly conveyed the message of 'Don't screw with me, Joshua', causing him to giggle.

"As to your original question, I was thinking of winging it."

Rainbow

"Eri! Eri, wake up! Come on!"

Shiki groaned as she was roughly shaken awake by large hands. Come on, couldn't Beat wait five more minutes? She was trying to sleep! Shiki rubbed her eyes and looked up at Beat in irritation.

"Come on, Eri, we need ta' find Shiki! I dunno where she is yet!" Beat hoisted Shiki to her feet gently and Shiki gave him a look.

"Um, Beat, you just woke me up to find myself?" Shiki asked. She knew that Beat could be very slow sometimes, but he wasn't completely stupid. She tightened her grip on Mr. Mew. "Wait, why are you calling me Eri?"

Now it was Beat's turn to look confused. He slowly took a step back from her, and then stared directly at the stuffy held in Shiki's arms. If Shiki hadn't been just as confused—and a little put off—she would have found his face hilarious right now.

"Beat, what's going on?" Shiki asked again, stepping forward with a concerned look, and froze. Feeling a messenger bag bounce against her side, she slowly looked down. She didn't wear—

'_Aren't these Eri's boots? And skirt? And jacket, shirt, and—'_

"Shiki... that you?" Beat asked hesitantly, putting a hand on her shoulder to get a closer look. When Shiki nodded a flash of realization seemed to hit Beat and he pulled away quickly. Then, getting a better idea, he pulled her into a hug, trembling slightly.

Then, Shiki remembered what had happened. She remembered the terrifying creatures that had attacked Shibuya, separated her from Eri—'_oh my God, what happened to Eri!?'_

"Shiki," Beat started, using the nickname that he had dubbed her only a few days ago, "I saw Joshua, yo. He said tha' we was in another Game... I didn't ask where we is, but... this ain't Shibuya. I dunno what happened, man..." Then, Beat hugged her tighter, protectively this time. "Joshua said we're dead, Shiki..."

"W-what?!" Shiki stammered, looking up in shock. "No way, we can't be... be... not again!"

Shiki shook her head and backed away. Becoming aware of the fact that she was crying, she wiped her eyes. Shibuya was gone, they were gone—dead—Eri was missing, Shibuya was gone, their friends were missing, they didn't know where they were, _Shibuya was gone!_

Shiki looked back at Beat and noticed that he was crying too, trying to keep a straight face as the tears trailed down his face.

Shiki stepped forward and hugged Beat, just needing a shoulder to cry on, and felt him hug her back.

Shiki didn't know how long they stood there, just crying on each other's shoulders, the rainbow of lights from the city surrounding them.

Wild

Neku didn't know how long he stood there, staring at his phone torpidly.

**Today's mission is to find your Game partner.  
You have 3 hours to do so.**

A small part of Neku found it funny that it didn't say "Fail or face Erasure." Neku wasn't very fond of that part of himself. Whoever the GM was must know that he's been through this before.

_Wait a minute—_

Neku peered closer at the message on his phone.

"Find your Game partner..." Neku read aloud. Not a partner, _his _partner.

'_Which one?'_

Neku suddenly realized how well he was taking this and scowled to himself. He shouldn't be taking this so naturally! Why wasn't he freaking out more?!

He should be mad! Neku should be damning Joshua for doing this again—it was his fault, right?—not mindlessly going along with whatever it was that Joshua wanted him to do!

Neku gritted his teeth in frustration, rubbing his now booming headache. It wouldn't do any good to kill himself by overthinking this.

'_Ha, kill myself. I should be a stand-up comedian.'_

Neku really needed to stop doing that.

In any case, Neku figured that he was going to look around for one of his friends. Even if Neku didn't want to give in and let whoever was running this have his way with him, he needed to make sure that they were safe. When the mission was over, they could figure out what to do.

In any case, he needed to find Shiki or Beat... or Joshua. Of course, that would be assuming that Joshua was even here.

'_Of course he's here. He runs the Game doesn't he? Well, he runs Shibuya's Game at least, and I'm _pretty _sure this isn't Shibuya.'_

Shaking his head, Neku started walking. His friends were depending on him, and he was depending on them. Neku may not have been able to remember exactly how he had ended up in this strange town, but he knew that he wasn't about to let his friends get erased because he couldn't find them.

It wouldn't do any good to over think the situation either. Neku just needed to find his Game partner. No need to go crazy.

Beautiful

The Music of this world was absolutely beautiful. It called out to those who had lost their way and whose worlds had fallen into darkness. And, now that he had brought some of the denizens of his world here, the Music was adjusting to the new souls that had arrived.

It was already starting to sound slightly like Shibuya's Music did.

Like it _did._

Nevertheless, the familiar tones beneath the original song of Traverse Town weren't doing anything for Joshua's homesickness. Not that he would ever admit to being homesick.

He had never left Shibuya before.

Of course, Joshua was grateful for this world, grateful that he had been able to reach out and find it in the last dying moments of Shibuya. He had remembered that Sanae had told him that he could find a world called Traverse Town and set up camp there if he intended to save his friends.

_"Technically, you could save them, you know." _Sanae had said._"We can't stop what's going to happen to our world, but Fate has a way of ignoring the tiny details. Yes, this world is going to end, but not everyone has to end with it._

_"Listen, J,"_ Sanae had continued, _"I've known this was going to happen for a while, so I went out and found a world that you could bring a few people to. If you get people with strong hearts to that world, they'll survive what's going to happen. And if they survive, if you wait for long enough, a Keyblader will restore Shibuya by defeating the darkness."_

Joshua recalled Sanae saying that he had marked this world with his Imagination, so that Joshua would be able to find it immediately, and he had.

Joshua had gathered up the souls of many of the Ex-Players and teleported, only a few minutes before Shibuya had been obliterated.

Upon arriving in Traverse Town, Joshua looked around, getting a good view of the town from the top of the Gizmo Shop in the Second District. It was acceptable.

Still holding on to the souls of his city, he let out his wings, shedding a few incandescent feathers and he flew up into the sky over Traverse Town. Soon, he could see the entire town below him. It was empty save for a few lingering creatures.

It was no longer acceptable, it was perfect.

Closing his eyes and raising his arms, palms outward, Yoshiya Kiryu began emit an unearthly glow. Simultaneously, he released the souls that he had been carrying and put his energy into them, filling each of them with part of his power, with his Imagination.

Slowly, the souls began to scatter throughout the town, each looking for a safe haven to rest before awakening.

Joshua's eyes flashed open and a pulse of light seemed to fly out of him like an explosion, engulfing the entire town before fading as if nothing had happened.

As soon as Joshua had accomplished that, he glided back down to the roof of the Gizmo Shop and leaned against the wall that held a bronze bell inside, panting.

Teleporting between worlds followed immediately by starting up a new Game had beyond exhausted the Composer.

Joshua turned to face the small town and sat down against the wall.

It was there that he fell asleep, resting alongside the souls he had just saved.

Love

When Rhyme first saw the stars dotting the sky she gasped. There were so many of them! Glimmering and shining out against the darkness surrounding them. She leaned against the building and fiddled absentmindedly with her necklace, admiring the sky.

'_Stars are made out of hydrogen and helium. Their state of matter is plasma and they are constantly exploding. Not as peaceful as they—'_

Rhyme frowned at her thoughts. Why couldn't she just let the stars stay magical? Yes, in some way Rhyme was happy that she could remember that, but those were just facts. They had no kind of personal memory connected to them.

Just cold and empty facts.

"Kupo!"

Rhyme jumped slightly, startled from her not-so-positive reverie to face a strange looking creature. It didn't look like any kind of animal that Rhyme could recall from her limited memory. It didn't look like it was going to hurt her; Rhyme actually thought that it was cute.

It had a small, round body covered in pale cream fur and a large pinkish-red nose placed right under two squinty eyes. Two tiny ears poked out of the top of its head and between those was a strange appendage. It reminded Rhyme of the antenna that anglerfish had, except this one was much larger, red, and... fuzzy. It was also hovering in the air with the use of two little, purple bat wings.

"Oh, hello..." Rhyme said to the unknown creature.

"Hello," it responded.

It spoke... It... what was it exactly?

Rhyme frowned at herself again. Why was she calling the creature an "it"? Surely it must have a name of some sort.

"My name is Rhyme." Rhyme smiled.

"My name is Nomad." The creature replied. "Are you here to sign up for the Flick Rush Colosseum?"

At Rhyme's blank look, Nomad explained how to play Flick Rush and the rules and regulations behind it.

"Okay, I think that I understand the rules... but what's a Dream Eater?" Rhyme asked, puzzled.

"Dream Eaters are creatures that eat the dreams of others. They can be created by your dreams if you give them purpose. Those kinds of Dream Eaters are called Spirits." Nomad explained. "They're the kind that you need if you want to compete in Flick Rush."

"How do I give my dreams purpose?" Rhyme asked, already searching for a dream that she thought would be powerful enough to do whatever she needed to do with it.

'_Huh...'_

Why couldn't Rhyme think of anything? What did she want to do?

'_Ummm...'_

"That's something that you'll have to do on your own, kupo." Nomad said. "But, the more powerful your dreams are, the more powerful the Spirit you create will be."

Rhyme nodded reflexively, still trying to figure out what her dreams even _were_. Another strong feeling of déjà vu dawned over her and she shook her head. She looked up at the twinkling night sky for help, searching the stars for an answer.

"I don't think I have any dreams." Rhyme said, worried.

"Is there anything that you love?" Nomad asked.

"Love?" Rhyme asked, turning to look at him.

"Yes. Love can often help people create dreams. If you love someone, you can dream of being with them. If you love something or someplace, you can dream about that something or going to that place again." Nomad explained.

"I—" Rhyme started to answer, and then stopped upon realizing something.

'_I don't think I do...'_

Happiness

Beat scowled as he charged through the back alleys of the Fourth District, ignoring the freakishly colorful creatures that kept popping up. He didn't have time for them! He needed to find Rhyme!

"RRRHHHHYYYYYYMMMEE!" Beat bellowed, cupping his hands around his mouth to make the sound go further.

There was no response. Beat wished that he had his skateboard right now. It would make looking for her so much easier! He could find her faster, she would be safe faster!

Seeing a flash of something moving out of the corner of his eye, Beat spun in time to see someone running around the corner and disappearing from view. Beat frowned. That was the first person he had seen all day—aside from Shiki, who had gone to look for Neku—and Beat figured that maybe that person would know where Rhyme was.

Beat took after that guy like a bolt; his feet thudding against the pavement loudly when he reached the intersection and turned the corner. Beat's eyes went wide as he recognized who was in front of him.

"A Reaper?!" Beat shouted, stepping back slightly. A small voice in his head that sounded like Rhyme reminded him that Joshua had said they were playing the Reaper's Game again.

"Hn?" The man in the black hood turned around and regarded Beat. "A Reaper? I'm afraid you have the wrong man. I'm simply a traveler."

"Then why are ya' wearin' that hoodie, man?" Beat crossed his arms.

"I have my reasons. What are you doing in this town?" The man replied, "In fact, you shouldn't even be here."

"Not my fault, yo." Beat grumbled, "Wait, if you's a traveler, can you get outta this town?!"

"I can." The man answered.

"Can ya' take me and my sis' with you?!" Beat said loudly, getting excited, "An' Phones, 'n Shiki too!" Beat thought about including Joshua but he wasn't exactly happy with the Prissy Boy at the moment, so Joshua went unmentioned.

The man paused, as if deep in thought, before replaying with an ambiguous "Perhaps."

"Perhaps?! Tha's not an answer!" Beat declared.

"I will think about it. I may need you to help me with something while I decide. It may help to sway my opinion to an answer you should find more favorable." The man said.

"What do I gotta do?!" Beat said quickly, grinning widely at the thought of getting out of this place, going home with Rhyme and everybody else!

The man walked over to him and looked down at him. Beat thought it was a little freaky that he still couldn't see anything under his hood, but was too happy to complain about it.

"There's going to be a young man with this symbol tattooed onto his shirt. I need you to find him for me and bring him to the Fifth District." As the man said "this symbol" he stretched out his arm and one of those creatures from earlier appeared at his side, its red eyes gleaming.

"BWAAHHH!" Beat yelled and stumbled back in shock. "What is that thing?!"

"A Nightmare." The man responded.

"How'd you get it to appear like that?!" Beat asked and hunched over to get a better look at the Nightmare.

"They are created from your dreams." The man answered. "They make valuable partners."

At the word "partner" Beat's head shot up in recognition. "Can I have one?"

"You must create it yourself." He responded.

"How?" Beat asked, puzzled beyond belief.

"Dream it up." The man said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Beat closed his eyes and tried, he thought about going back to Shibuya with Rhyme, with everyone! Seeing his parents again, going to see his skater friends at the park again! He wanted it so much!

Suddenly, a flash of light took over his vision and when Beat opened his eyes he saw a large, green panda-looking thing. Its eyes were yellow in a contrast to the other creature's red.

Beat grinned widely and let out a loud whoop.

"Thanks, man! I'll bring that guy to where you said!" Beat said and ran off.

He could already see the lights of Shibuya again.

Friend

Neku found himself running through Traverse Town, eyeing every shadow, every monster that appeared from thin air. What _were _they?! They obviously weren't Noise—or at least any kind of Noise that he was familiar with—as they lacked the distinct tattoo markings that were present on all of those creatures.

It was still too quiet here, even with his music blaring in his headphones, his feet smacking the concrete, his breath accelerating as he ran. It was strange how he used to love the quiet, the silence where he could be alone with his own thoughts. His friends had changed that, mostly. Every so often, Neku would leave his group just to be alone and think things over, a privilege that he hadn't gotten in the Game.

Not right now. He needed to hear Shiki's endless babble about styles, trends, and Prince; Beat's loud and obnoxious voice... even Eri's nonstop blathering about fashion and Rhyme's advice...

Joshua's snarky attitude, telling Neku to man up in his own round-about way.

So Neku steeled himself and sped up when he reached the Second District. A flash of movement caught Neku's attention and he turned to see a cloaked man walking past him, up on the elevated sidewalk. Was it a Reaper?

Neku narrowed his eyes at the man walking by. "Hey, you," Neku called. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

The man stopped walking and turned to look at Neku. Neku could have sworn that he caught a flash of orange eyes glimmering in the shadows of his hood.

"A traveler," the man said simply.

"What is this place?" Neku asked, crossing his arms.

"This is a world for those who no longer have one," the man replied.

_'What? No longer have a... Just where am I? I'm not sure if I can trust this guy. He's hiding in a black cloak. What's he trying to hide?'_

"If your desire is to return to your world, I will be able to assist you," the traveler offered, his tone nonchalant.

"What's the catch?" Neku asked testily. "How can I trust you?"

"There is a young boy named Sora who is going to arrive here very soon. He will have a large white X on his shirt. I have been looking for him for a very long time. He is important to me. As for how you can trust me... I suppose that there is nothing that I can do to prove my trustworthiness," the traveler explained.

Neku frowned, but gave a small nod.

"And this Sora kid... why do you need him, exactly?" Neku asked.

"I suppose that you could say that Sora is like family to me," the traveler replied.

"And how do I know that you can send me home?" Neku asked, remembering the last time that he had attempted to make a deal with someone who obviously had hidden motives. He had almost killed Shiki...

"I am a traveler, as I said earlier. What kind of traveler does not have a mode of transportation?" The man turned to the path in front of him and opened a... portal? It seemed to be a large cloud of black and purple smoke, swirling around a singular point in the center. He turned and walked through it, leaving behind a single sentence for Neku to ponder.

"Bring the boy to the Third District and I will bring you and all of your friends home."

Neku stared in shock. Should he do as the man said? He'd never seen a Reaper that could open portals like that, so he probably wasn't part of the Reaper's Game... but Neku still wasn't sure.

Still, this was better than doing nothing. He'd look for this Sora kid and his friends at the same time. A small light of hope was lit in Neku's heart as he turned to face the First District and ran that way.

He was going to bring his friends home! He would see Shibuya again!

As Neku ran, he didn't notice the small flash of light and the appearance of the large purple cat with a musical note for a tail.

He did notice, however, when it let out a loud meow and proceeded to prance around him.

Seasons

Holding Mr. Mew tightly in her arms, Shiki walked quickly down the steps of the First District, her new boots clopping loudly against the stone the steps were made of. Suddenly, right in front of her, a large portal appeared and expelled a man donned in a black coat.

Shiki gasped loudly and froze, her eyes going wide. She fought the urge to throw Mr. Mew at him, knowing that until she found her partner—found Neku—her cat plush wouldn't be able to do anything.

So, Shiki stood there, hoping that the man in front of her would pass her by and not notice her or—

"You are also lost, aren't you?" The man in the coat said, turning his head to look in her direction.

So much for that...

"Who wants to know?" Shiki responded, not sure if she should be talking with this man. But she needed answers, and he might be able to give those to her. Besides, she was fast and fighting in the Reaper's Game had made her tougher. Shiki was confident that she could at least run away if the situation got sticky.

"Only a traveler," the man replied. Shiki thought that it sounded like he had been having this conversation a few times before having it with her.

"A traveler?" Shiki asked, scrutinizing his outfit. The coat seemed to be rather ominous to her, hinting that he was hiding something by the way it covered his face. It had the potential to be an extremely intimidating coat, but fell just short of overt intimidation. The sleeves were a little too long for her taste, and the overall outfit looked totally last season—or was it ever _in _season? The material looked a little strange to her as well, made of something that Shiki had never seen before. She'd love to get her hands on whatever the coat was made of to experiment a little.

"Yes, a traveler. So, are you lost?" He asked.

"Yeah..." Shiki muttered, fiddling with Mr. Mew's feet, and looking down. "If you're a traveler, can you tell me where I am?"

"Traverse Town," the traveler said.

"I see..." Shiki said. "Is it anywhere near Shibuya? I need to get back home."

The man tilted his head slightly and sighed, proceeding to explain to her the situation that she and her friends faced.

"So, all I have to do is find this guy for you and you'll send us all home?" Shiki asked, cocking her head to one side in thought.

"Precisely," the traveler replied as he started to walk away. "All you need to do is lead him to the Greenhouse and run out of his sight. I will handle the rest."

"Well, all right." Shiki said. "Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"If I knew his location, why would I send you to look for him?" The man replied dryly.

"Oh," Shiki laughed awkwardly, "right. I'll get on that now." Shiki turned and ran back to the Fountain Plaza, a small smile on her face.

Shiki ran down the alleyway at a record speed. She needed to find Neku and Beat to tell them the good news! Or should she find that boy first? For a second, Shiki wondered what the boy was like before shaking her head to clear that thought away.

Shiki was distracted again when something soft brushed her arm and landed right by her feet. Looking down, Shiki picked up a large white feather.

_'Huh...? What's this?—Focus! I need to focus!' _Shiki ordered herself as she tossed the feather aside and climbed a few boxes to get onto a rooftop. It would be easier to find the people she was looking for if she had a better view, after all.

Lonely

Rhyme wasn't quite sure how long she had been standing next to Nomad (she had just found out that he was called a Moogle, actually). The stars were ever-presently twinkling overhead and Rhyme just wanted to sit down and watch them forever. This place was beautiful, but it seemed so lonely...

She felt lonely, despite the presence of Nomad right next to her. He was helpful, but it was rather obvious that he was looking for business more than he was looking to help. She was thankful that he let her stay, though.

Rhyme had offered to help out with the Flick Rush event. Perhaps she could find a way to be useful to the Moogle who had been helping and explaining things to her. Maybe she could help out with handing out cards or working the booth where the competitors cashed in their medals for items.

Nomad had looked at her thoughtfully, considering it. When Rhyme added that she would work for free, he told her that she would be paid a fair amount of munny (Rhyme guessed that that was the currency of this place) and that she could take the night shift after Mogki (the Moogle that worked the Cash-In booth) got tired. Nomad said that the Moogles were a noble race and did not swindle people.

"Okay, what time does the night shift begin?" Rhyme asked, flicking out her phone to check what time it was.

"The night shift starts at four, kupo," Nomad answered, and then glanced at someone behind her.

"Hey, where the factor am I?!" growled a deep voice, and Rhyme span around to see a tall, boy in his late teens with messy gray hair under a red bandana and black cap. He had tan skin and was wearing a short sleeved shirt and ripped up jeans that were both black. There was a large black tattoo that looked more like a glove stretching from his hand all the way up to right below his elbow.

"The Flick Rush Coliseum," Nomad replied. "Rhyme, is this guy a friend of yours?"

"I've... never seen him before..." Rhyme said, watching the man carefully.

"Flick Rush?" The teen grunted, scrutinizing Nomad and Rhyme. "Sounds like garbage. I don't have time for extraneous activities. Now, where the factor am I—as in, which quadrant?—you brainless binomials?"

"A world called Traverse Town," Rhyme offered, deciphering the teen's unique vocabulary.

"World? You mean Shibuya, right, radian?" The teen cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow.

"No, I mean Traverse Town. Nomad told me that this world is a sanctuary for people who lost their worlds to darkness. ...I'm from Shibuya too, by the way; my name's Rhyme," Rhyme extended her hand to the teen to shake it.

The teen had gone still and was listening to her, arms crossed in front of his chest. He glanced to the left, and Rhyme wondered if he was trying to remember what had happened before he had woken up here. Figuring that he wasn't going to shake her hand, she let it drop to her side.

Rhyme felt a little better, knowing this guy was just as lost as she was. Since he seemed to be from Shibuya too, as well as being older, his presence took a small weight off of her shoulder. Maybe they could stick together?

"Sho Minamimoto," the teen said suddenly.

"That's your name?" Rhyme asked.

"Precisely. You better remember it." Sho grinned and walked past her. "Hey, yoctogram, what do I get when I win this tournament?"

Nomad blinked at him. "We offer numerous wares, from health items to Dream Eater recipes. Of course, you have to win medals to get the items. You win medals by winning battles in the Coliseum."

"SOHCAHTOA..." Sho said in a thoughtful tone. "Sign me up."

Locked Up

On the top of the Gizmo Shop, Joshua stirred. He sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes. He had never been one to wake up easily.

Looking around, Joshua noticed the large bell right in front of him and squinted at it in confusion.

Then, he quickly got to his feet, the events of yesterday rushed back to him in a blur of darkness, fear, and destruction. Joshua turned and walked over to the edge of the building to look for the people he had managed to bring with him to this empty town.

When the view wasn't enough Joshua let out his wings again and took to the sky, ignoring the stray feather that slowly fluttered to the ground.

Shiki had just left the First District as Neku had entered it. She was now in the Fountain Plaza and walking toward a building, obviously scouting for Neku. Joshua bit back a small chuckle as he saw Neku head into the Third District. Perhaps they needed more help than he'd thought.

Joshua also noted, to his satisfaction, that he hadn't been too late to rescue the majority of Def Märch from the Heartless. They had put up a good fight, but there was only so much that they could do before they had been overwhelmed. Unfortunately, he hadn't arrived in time to save Futoshi.

It was saddening, really. The band had been destroyed by outside forces before they could fall through their own fighting. Joshua would have wanted to see the music that his Reapers would have produced. He had, however, been unable to revive the Reapers that had been erased throughout the duration of those three weeks.

Turning, he wasn't surprised to see Rhyme and Minamimoto conversing in front of a large stadium-like building. He'd thought that Sho would have ventured out of the Back Streets—which, incidentally, was also where Beat was. He wasn't happy about Minamimoto's close proximity to Rhyme...she was Joshua's Portal, after all.

His ticket back to Shibuya after Sora saved the universe. Until then, he and everyone here were locked up, unable to leave this place.

Looking to the Fifth District, Joshua saw a strange man in a black coat standing on top of the greenhouse, staring up at him. Joshua frowned deeply, sensing that this man was trouble.

Joshua composed himself and flew down to speak with the mysterious man in the black coat.

"Why, hello there, stranger," Joshua said as he landed before the man. "I couldn't help but notice that you were staring right at me. Might I know the name of my new admirer?"

"My name doesn't matter," the man replied. "I am simply passing through on my journey."

"Oh? How exciting. And the destination at the end of your journey is?" Joshua asked.

"I owe you no answers." The man dismissed Joshua's question and simply turned, starting to walk away.

"Well, that's certainly a rude way to put it." Joshua sighed and stuffed his hand into his pocket. "And I'd still like to know your name."

The mysterious man just kept walking, then was suddenly engulfed by a cloud of darkness and disappeared. Joshua stepped back, wincing as if he had just heard nails on a chalkboard. That was what the sudden appearance of darkness had sounded like.

Joshua was almost certain that the man was up to no good.

Broken

Beat was charging through the Back Streets of the Fourth District, quickly approaching the Flick Rush Coliseum. He'd seen the huge building and the giant floating Dream Eater balloon that hung off of it.

Then, out of nowhere, Joshua fell into Beat's vision, landing right in front of him and blocking his path. Beat skidded to a stop so he wouldn't crash into Joshua and fought the urge to punch him in the face as a greeting.

"Fancy meeting you here, Beat." Joshua smirked and crossed his arms.

Beat narrowed his eyes at the Composer of Shibuya. "I ain't in the mood to deal with you, Prissy."

"Are you saying there's a time when you _are _in the mood to talk with me?" Joshua asked, and raised an eyebrow at Beat.

"Tha's beside the point, man!" Beat grumbled, and turned away, starting to walk around Joshua. Rhyme always told him to not let people get to him so easily.

"_Actions speak louder than words,_" she had said, and Beat really wanted Joshua to know that he wasn't going to let him get to him. So he was going to ignore everything that came out of the Prissy Kid's mouth.

"Have you seen a man wearing a black coat wandering around?" Joshua asked, turning and starting to walk beside the older of the Bito siblings.

At that, Beat paused. Okay, maybe it wouldn't hurt to hear what Joshua had to say about that guy... then again, Joshua was the reason that they were all here in the first place. Beat figured that he'd listen to the Prissy—he was still Neku's friend, after all, so that had to be _something _at least—then decide if he believed it or not.

"I see that you have. What did he tell you, Beat?" Joshua asked. His tone was as light and careless-sounding as ever.

"He jus' said that he knew a way outta here. But I need to find a guy with the Dream Eater symbol on his shirt," Beat answered.

"I see... Did he happen to give you a name, or tell you why he needed to find this mysterious stranger?" Joshua asked.

"Naw, didn't ask. Didn't you hear me? We get to go home, man!" Beat pumped his fist into the air, grinning.

At this, Joshua let out a heavy sigh. "Beat, are you honestly running errands for a man whose name you don't even know? You haven't even seen his face, have you?"

"You're one to talk, yo. You get people that don't know you t' run errands for you," Beat retorted, recalling Neku's stories about being dragged around the Underground in search of the fabled "Shibuya River."

Joshua stopped walking and when Beat turned to look, Joshua had a somewhat annoyed look on his face. He was staring intently at the ground.

"That's beside the point," Joshua finally said.

"You also hide a lot a' things, too, Prissy," Beat added as an afterthought. "I dunno what your problem is."

Joshua's fists clenched slightly and his irritated look intensified.

"Listen, Beat, that man in the black coat is nothing but trouble. You're obviously more intelligent than others give you credit for, so _be _intelligent and take my advice. Stay away from him. It is impossible for you to return to Shibuya at this point in time and nothing that man says or does will ever change that."

Beat opened his mouth to retort, but before he could say anything he heard a loud shriek that sounded like...

"Rhyme!" Beat hollered, and shoved Joshua aside. He turned the corner and saw Rhyme standing there with... was that Pi-Face?!

Before Beat could charge over and punch Sho away from his sister a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him.

"Ngeh..." Beat groaned as he rubbed at his eyes and looked up blearily to see Joshua and Sho looking at the sky in—confusion...? He noticed that Rhyme looked back at him with something akin to alarm.

"...Beat...?"

The voice sounded like Joshua, but it sounded incredibly blurry and far-away. He just needed a few minutes to rest, and then he'd get back to Rhyme...

Beat didn't notice that Joshua—who had begun to rush over to him—was starting to look transparent as he stumbled back against the wall, sliding down it to a sitting position.

He closed his eyes and disappeared.


End file.
